THE NE.W YORKER objectionable as the anatomists who had rejected it as an a-priori impossibility. In 1949, Kenneth Oakley and C. R. Hoskins, of the research staff of the British Museum, who had introduced the fi uorine test in to prehistoric re- search, were persuaded to apply it to the Piltdown cranium dnd jawhone. The skull turned out to be d genuine antique, more than fifty thousand years r' old, but the jaw turned out to be mod- ern. The application of further tests, none of which had been developed when f the skull was unearthed, and none of which had yet been tried out on it, proved that the jaw and the teeth had been doctored. In 1953, the fraud was exposed by the publication of d report by ]. S. Weiner, of University College, and Le Gros Clark, of the University of Utrecht. G. H. R. Von Koenigswald, the paleontologist who made some of the most important finds of Javanese fossil primates, expressed his pleasure at the unmasking of what he called "a skillful fake," spedking in unambiguous terms that can be taken, without reserve, as the representative Darwinian opinion on the subject: The unexpected collapse of Piltdown man is a great satisfaction to paleontolo- gists. Not only does it make man's genea- logical tree simpler and more consistent, but it is now manifest that man's forerun- ners really are more primitive the farther back "' e go. Dr. Himmelfarb is, however, far too clever to pay any attention to anything dS simple as that. She prefers to present her own view of the matter thus: N or can it be maintained, as some Dar- \vinians have done, that the exposure of the Piltdo"' n man leaves them no better and no "' orse off than they "' ere before It does, in fact, weaken their position in re- gard to both their theory and their meth- ods. The zeal ", ith which eminent scien- tists defended it, the facility ", ith ", hich even those who did not welcome it man- aged to accommodate to it, and the way in \vhich the most respected scientific tech- niques were soberly and painstakingly ap- plied to it, with the apparent result of confirming both the genuineness of the fos- sils and the truth of evolution. are at the very least suspicious. However earnestly scientists may no\\! dissociate themselves and their theory from Piltdo\vn meln. they cannot entirely wipe out the memory of forty years of labor expended on a delib- erate and not particularly subtle fraud. And not førty years in the remote past, but forty years ", hich came to an end only as recently as 1953. It would be charitable to attribute all this to ignorance of the case in point in particular, and to ignorance of the general Darwinian theory of human descen t, of the developments of the last fi less than 3 a mile to w' 3 PARADISE ISLANDS "'... 'P r::. .... ,^^ . ..,._, s . v; " 'f .,,::\ to ... , 197 ."* .... - -4 ^ \: ST. CROIX · ST. JOHN · ST. THOMAS ,+ . Surprisingly low air fares. . less than $100 roundtrip from New York * to the sunny, breathtaking beauty of palm-fringed beaches, lush green hills. Perfect vacation blend of Danish colonial charm and exciting modern living. . . Free Port shopping, water sports, com- plete relaxation at fine hotels, excel- lent guest houses. DAILY FLIGHTS via San Juan from New York, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles. .Weekends $108. Full information, illustrated color Booklet E from YOUR TRAVEL AGENT ; f ..7j) (> . "' , v :J ." ...,: 'v . '. ;ic" ... .::% .. .. 'f;., 't e :it' t-' "'" " . '. .. . -'. "" . .ow! .,. . .". " '< . . :': .. .." "" ... .. '. .:. .( I , I AM' , . .-...... . U.. S. A.. I ViRGIN ISLANDS GOVERNMENT TOURIST IN' ORMATION Off.tCE 750 Third Avenue, New York 17, N. \':, QX ],.21'58 , Also St Thomas and St. CroIX, I. . . 1 with a flourish! L. ." :' Finish dinner... , -# ..- BRANDY After coffee. . . en,joy the drier liqueur e I( LE JULIUS WilE SONS & CO., INC., NEW YORK 86 PROOF · let this seal be your guide to Quality J "" II17 I _. """- . ., '\ t'" v l-.w \ '" " "'-..N \. \ ^ "' . i)è h V':'"x ^"<- x :::,.' . -. ' MW. ^"".o: L t ............. ÅNÞ BENEDICTINE